NEW ORLEANS – T.J. Yeldon remains the quiet, humble person who arrived on campus two years ago.

The third-ranked Alabama football team's starting running back has become one of the premier ball carriers in the country while in the shadows of stellar seniors such as quarterback AJ McCarron.

Even younger players such as receivers Amari Cooper and Christon Jones gather more headlines.

Fame for Yeldon, however, can't be silenced much longer, even if he wants.

His name already is being been thrown about as a frontrunner to next season's Heisman Trophy race.

A big game in Thursday's Sugar Bowl against No. 11 Oklahoma would launch him into the forefront to begin next season.

"Well, you know, he's done a really good job for us," coach Nick Saban said. "He played better than anybody anticipated he would last year as a freshman. We've certainly liked the progress that he's made. I think there have been times this year where he's been very, very dominant. We want him to be dominant on a consistent basis. Hopefully, as he matures and grows he’ll be able to do that even more."

Yeldon's success puts a shy person in the spotlight. He has gained 1,163 yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games played. He sat out the Chattanooga game — where he could have padded his stats — to rest an ankle injury.

His average of 102.2 yards a game ranked third in the SEC and 24th nationally. Yeldon was named all-conference by the coaches and Associated Press.

"It went pretty well," Yeldon said of the season. "I could've performed better in some of the games, but I did the best I could. I wasn't really injured at all until the ankle."

Yeldon's freshman season saw similar results with 1,108 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns as backup. He was named a Freshman All-American by the Sporting News.

All of his production came sharing the load. He was Eddy Lacy's backup last season and this year Kenyan Drake has played a significant amount with Derrick Henry in the game at times.

"Every day, (Drake) is pretty much the guy who's fast and I'm pretty much the power guy; so, l would start off in some games and he would just come in with the speed and just go right by," Yeldon said. "I like being the power guy, but I got some speed too."

Yeldon also is looking to become more an all-around running back. He's still learning what to do when he doesn't have the ball, including blocking and route running.

"TJ is a guy last year who came in had instant success early," offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. "One of the things that people see when you talk about the running back position is they see what the player does with the ball in his hands, but there's so much more to playing the position. I think TJ has really grown in that aspect, his attention to detail and protections, his understanding of the overall scheme, the blocking schemes and how we're doing things up front to create holes for him. He's really grown in that way this season."

Blocking is an area Yeldon just began to feel comfortable with at the end of the season, and he predicts improvement for next season.

He hopes that getting bigger and stronger in the offseason will help. Learning more of the offense is another goal.

"Learning the game and knowing my blocks and picking up the blocks," Yeldon said of his next step in development. "It's important. If you can't pick up blocks, you won't play on this team. It's more than just learning the running schemes."

Yeldon has 29 career catches for 291 yards and one touchdown. He's not looking to be a primary receiver; he'll leave that to the main receivers, but an occasional dump off pass would be fine.

However the Crimson Tide uses him, the opportunity for success comes. With McCarron leaving for the NFL after the Sugar Bowl, Yeldon comes the face of the offense.

He's ready for the responsibility of being depended on more on the field, but he'll leave the attention for others.

"That's just T.J., that's who he is," offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio said. "He doesn't talk a lot, but his actions speak louder than his words. I guess that's the way he is raised. He's quiet. You won't see him the club a lot. You won't see him partying a lot. He does his thing."